I’m so excited to co-host this Friday’s bloghop link-up with We Took the Road Less Traveled! This week’s theme is “3 irrational fears.” Honestly, I can probably come up with a dozen irrational fears that will make me sound totally crazy. But definitely a couple are at the forefront of my mind these days. As some of you may have gathered from my last post, we are going to Southeast Asia next! I’m SO excited about it because it seems…
Couples Travel: Lesson One
D and I almost broke up twice in the past 3 days. No joke.* (*Ok.. maybe joking a little. Before anyone freaks out, we are now back on track on Operation LoveyDovey.) It always happens something like this: I make some innocuous remark that D deems to be annoying (for example: are you sure we can eat here? It looks too fancy…). But instead of letting it just quietly blow over, the simple, stupid argument escalates and goes into all the…
Rise, Death, and Chase of a Dream
aka. A confession: How we fund our travels aka. Another confession: When traveling wasn’t my dream I’m just going to get it out of the way: traveling was never my dream. It was never my dream simply because it was never an option. I grew up in America, and I’m Chinese, which means that “a good job = a good life” is doubly drilled into my head. Which was exactly want I had. And so I was taught to hold…
That Day I Quit my Job to Travel the World
I seem to have gotten myself into quite a pickle at work. I am sooo nervous, more nervous than I can remember ever being my whole life. My hands are clammy and sweaty, even as I continuously wipe them down on my jeans. My heart’s threatening to jump right out my chest. And you know the expression “scared shitless”? Yeah… no idea where that came from, for I had the exact opposite problem (but ok..TMI). For today was the day…
Obligatory 2013 Round-Up and Leftover Pictures
2013 has come and gone, and a lot has happened, although not very eventful too at the same time. I’m happy to report that I’ve been able to do a little bit of traveling this year and have gotten slightly more adventurous. I’ve already mentioned that this is the year I found a new dream, and I’m finally taking steps to make sure it happens in 2014. But a lot of this year was also bad. Apparently, I don’t deal with life-changing…
Fishy Jelly, Pierogi, and A Very Polish Christmas
The best part about Christmas is the coming together of family and sharing a meal. Or, in my case this year, it’s being invited into someone else’s family… a hardcore Polish family. D’s grandfather grew up in Poland, survived WWII, and immigrated to the US where he met his wife and raised 8 children. Through all this, he has kept the Polish tradition of a Christmas Eve supper (a Wigilia) alive. D’s dad has assumed the role of chef and…
Once Upon a Christmas Tree
Sometimes, the smallest things make me insanely happy. I hate to sound like a Grinch, but overall, I haven’t been having the most joyful December. In between the unseasonally warm weather, 12-hour work days, and feeling fat (probably due to my mass consumption of chocolate lately), I haven’t had the time to feel Christmas cheer. But this is also the last Christmas D and I will be spending in his house (and for me, also the first) as the house…
Moving and (un)Settling
“little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky tacky, little boxes on the hillside, little boxes all the same.” Irvine, California is kinda a strange place. It oozes curated perfection and picturesque-ness (no bars! no liquor stores! lest the pristine image be sullied), while looking like a commercialized metropolitan and a small town at the same time. Renowned for being one of America’s top cities, everyone seems to live in a bubble of perfectly manicured lawns, Louis Vuitton…